Booth School of Business – The University of Chicago

Chicago Booth Weekend MBA Program Structure

The University of Chicago Weekend MBA program at the Booth School of Business meets at Gleacher Center in downtown Chicago every Saturday. Classes run from either 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. or 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. for the duration of each 11 week quarter. By taking an average of two courses per quarter, students typically complete the 20-course program in two and a half to three years time.

The Chicago Booth Weekend MBA intakes new students at the beginning of the autumn and spring quarters. Prior to the first day of classes, a three-day program called Launch kicks off the Booth student experience.

Curriculum

Chicago Booth offers its full curriculum to Weekend MBA students. It consists of 20 classes plus Leadership Effectiveness and Development (LEAD). Three Foundation Courses are required–students select one course from the Financial Accounting, Microeconomics, and Statistics categories, but may schedule these courses in no particular order. Six courses are required in the Functions, Management, and Business Environment Categories of Finance, Marketing, Operations, Decisions, People, Strategy, and Business Environment subject fields.

The remaining 11 courses can be tailored to personal interest in electives. Finally, all students take the LEAD program to kick-start their leadership development process during their first quarter of enrollment. Based on the particular personal curriculum selected, students are eligible for organizing their study around 14 different concentration areas of study: Accounting, Analytic Finance, Analytic Management, Econometrics and Statistics, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, General Management, International Business, Managerial and Organizational Behavior, Marketing Analytics, Marketing Management, Operations Management and Strategic Management. Although a concentration is not required, most Booth students typically fulfill between one and three of the topics depending on their particular interests and goals.

Chicago Booth offers lab courses that emphasize hands-on learning. Options in this format include:
Management Lab, which allows students to work in teams with executives at major companies on new product development, business strategy, and operational research. Recent partner companies included Honeywell International and Valspar.

The New Venture and Small Enterprise Lab has students work closely with senior management at early-stage companies on strategic and operational projects, with a unique opportunity to take their ideas to market.

The Social Enterprise Lab gives students a close look at local nonprofit and for-profit ventures that have social missions. Students then contribute strategic recommendations to leverage future growth.

Clean Tech Lab is designed to provide students a foundation in clean technology through partnerships with leading clean-tech firms and research labs.

Marketing Lab provides project based experiential opportunities in marketing research and new product development.

Healthcare Management Analytics Lab seeks to equip students with the skill set to apply date-driven analytics to identify and build healthcare delivery efficiencies. Students work on improvement projects in teams with leading world healthcare institutions and learn to bring operations theory and analytics methods into practice with faculty guidance.

The International Business Exchange Program (IBEP) allows Booth students to study abroad in 33 partner schools in 21 different countries.

Class Profile

Over 350 students are enrolled in the Weekend MBA program. About 70 percent of Weekend MBA students come from outside of Illinois. The average student is 30-years old and has six years of work experience.

Careers

Chicago Booth Weekend MBA students enjoy the same access to Career Services as full-time and Evening MBA program students. Chicago Booth’s top-notch career services department has both Employer Relations and Career Management teams.

The Employer Relations team offers regionally specific market knowledge from staff on the ground in Asia, Europe, and North America on the latest market trends to help identify and develop employment opportunities. Industry networking events take place on all three Chicago Booth campuses to bring talent together and foster specific industry knowledge and relationships. Executive access programs bring Chicago Booth alumni and corporate friends back to campus to provide insight and career guidance and host educational workshops.

The Career Management team provides individual career coaching tailored to the student’s personal career aspirations. Career Services also offer group and individual resume and job search guidance, frequently hosting workshops on how to develop a transitional story, building an effective resume, and interviewing tactics. Virtual mock interviews and story review sessions also allow students to hone their skills in a risk-free setting prior to testing them in the marketplace.

Employment reports on previous Booth graduate hiring trends, employers, industries, and functions are available for each of the past five years. An extensive archive of previously successful resumes is available and career newsletters are constantly circulated via email to keep students apprised of up-to-date job postings and career management tactics. The Fisher Career Resources Center (CRC), located in the Gleacher Center, gives students an additional researching resource.

Tuition & Financial Aid

For 2017-18 the tuition per course is $6,854. This fee applied to the required 20 courses yields a total tuition fee of $137,080 plus the following additional fees:

*Tuition is adjusted yearly in the Summer Quarter and Booth reserves the right to change the fees based on a student’s entry quarter and year.

There are three loan programs available for Evening MBA and Weekend MBA students who are US citizens or permanent residents. The Federal Direct Stafford Student Loan is an option for students enrolled in two or more courses each quarter. The Federal Direct GradPLUS loan is a credit-based loan subject to the rules and regulations of other federal financial aid programs. Finally, all students can apply for private, credit-based alternative loans.

For international students with no U.S. co-signers, Booth offers a loan program. Detailed information on this program and private loan options for international students who do have US cosigners are available via the admitted students website after admission has been secured.

Admissions Procedures

The Chicago Booth Weekend MBA program accepts students twice per year for the fall and spring quarters. Nine months prior to the deadline for each intake, the application becomes available. Application review then takes place on a rolling basis. So long as the application is submitted prior to the deadline, it will be reviewed. Decision response time typically takes four to six weeks after the completed application is submitted.

To complete an application for Booth’s Weekend MBA program, prospective students must submit a finished online application with personal background information, complete a series of varying essay questions (between three and five 250-750 word essays depending on the student options), a professional resume, two letters of recommendation, transcripts from all post-secondary educational institutions attended, official GMAT or GRE scores, and a $175 application fee. International applicants must also submit TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE scores.

Interviews are required for all applicants to the Weekend MBA Program. They are conducted once a completed application is submitted through the online system and are generally scheduled before and up to a few weeks after the application deadline. The interviews are conducted by Booth staff, students, and alumni at the Gleacher Center on Booth’s downtown campus on weekdays at 4, 5, and 6 p.m., as well as mornings and early afternoons on “Super Saturdays” around the application deadlines.